1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to an illumination device for a firearm. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a gun grip cover having an integrated light.
2. Summary of the Art
When security personnel, such as police, investigate dark areas under threat of violence, they often hold their firearm—often a handgun—with one hand and a flashlight with the other hand. This not only prevents them from grasping the firearm with both hands—which is known as being more stable and accurate than grasping the firearm with one hand—but also limits the utility of their other hand even if they were to maintain a one-handed grip on their gun.
Laser sights are available for firearms, but such sights only provide a focused laser beam with which to check the aim of the gun against a target. These sights fail to provide spread light that can illuminate an area.
Furthermore, holding or attaching a flashlight on one side of the gun limits the utility of the light emitted because half of the area is likely to still be relatively dark because of the shadow cast by the gun itself. Flashlights are also often bulky compared to firearms. Flashlights are also not ergonomically designed to be operated in conjunction with a firearm, even when attached to the firearm. When the flashlight is not attached to the firearm, it is even more difficult to turn the light on and off, point the flashlight, and hold and aim the gun all at the same time even with two hands.
Flashlights that are attachable to handguns are typically attachable to the barrel. These lights also often take large enough batteries, causing a significant change in the weight distribution of the handgun which in turn affects the ability to hold and aim the firearm. For example, some existing barrel-attached flashlights are 108 g and 125 g and move the center of mass of the gun along the barrel. Handguns typically have a center of mass near the front of the handle, so the shift of the center of mass with a barrel-mounted flashlight gives the handgun an unnatural, and unexpected forward-shifted balance.
These flashlights also prevent the handgun from being placed into a standard issue holster. The flashlight must be removed from the gun before the gun is holstered, and then the flashlight must be re-attached to the gun after the gun is withdrawn from the holster.
What is desired is an illumination device that can be held and operated single-handedly in combination with a gun. An illumination device is also desired that can project light on all or almost all sides of a gun concurrently while holding the gun. An illumination device is also desired that can be attached to a gun without significantly increasing the weight or weight distribution of the gun and illumination device combination compared with the gun without the illumination device. An illumination device is desired that when installed on a handgun will allow the handgun to fit into a standard holster.